Another go for young skateboard star Niwa
He was recovering from an injury last year – but this year Oakura’s up-and-coming skateboard star will be in action at his home bowl.
Fourteen-year-old Niwa Shewry is stoked to be able to compete in the Annual Oakura Bowl Jam this weekend.
He first got into skateboarding six years ago.
‘‘I liked the constant challenge and how fun it was,’’ he said.
Last year, he took out the under-16 national title, despite having broken five bones in six months. ‘‘I had a bit of a rough one last year.’’
He said the ‘‘redemption’’ of completing the trick that had seen him fall was an incentive to keep going after injury.
‘‘It never gets boring so it’s always a constant thrill.’’
This year, he’s at the top end of the standings again.
In the future, Niwa would love to be able to skateboard for a living.
Skateboarding is set to be introduced at the Tokyo Olympic Games this year, if it goes ahead, and Niwa has been selected by Skateboard NZ as a future Olympic prospect.
The Oakura Bowl Jam is into its third year and growing annually, Phil Culf from the Taranaki Skateboarding Association said.
Culf believes the introduction of skateboarding to the Games will put the sport in front of a different audience. While some kids were already into competitions, for others it has opened up possibilities.
‘‘What it’s done is, it’s given kids in the region a drive.
‘‘It will bring a whole new group into skateboarding.’’
And along with that will hopefully come more money, with many of the bowls in the region in need of maintenance, he said.
‘‘We do have a lot of skateparks around at the moment but a lot of them are really old, 20-plus years old,’’ Culf said.
The Annual Oakura Bowl Jam, part of the Bowlzilla circuit, kicks off at 10am tomorrow. Preregistration is from 9.30am.